Casas Viejas

Casas Viejas documents the tragic events of 1933, including interviews with survivors from the village. In January 1933, workers who were part of the CNT marched in the streets, demonstrating and believing that they were starting a revolution. Somehow during the demonstrations, two guards were wounded. The Civil Guard and Assault Guard arrived in Casas Viejas on January 11. Many of the villagers fled, but some anarchists tried to resist arrest and barricaded themselves in the home of an anarchist. When guards arrived, they set the house on fire with the anarchists and their families still inside. One anarchist survived the fire and emerged with a child, still alive. Soldiers and police then arrested anyone in the village who possessed a gun, marched them to the smoking ashes of the cottage and their dead colleagues, and shot them in the back. Twenty-four people died during the incident.